Luke Cage Will Return to Marvel for Solo Comic Series

By Paul Rohrbach  |  February 6, 2017 | 1:03pm
Cover/Main Art by Rahzzah
Comics News Luke Cage
Luke Cage Will Return to Marvel for Solo Comic Series

Last Autumn, Netflix enthusiasts, social justice activists and comic book lovers alike converged around Netflix’s acclaimed adaptation of Luke Cage. The enthusiastic response catapulted the series to one of Netflix’s most popular. In light of this, Netflix has promised to produce a second season of the show and an adaptation of The Defenders, which also features the character Luke Cage. Today, however, Marvel announced plans to release a new, solo Luke Cage comic book series following Genndy Tartakovsky’s Cage! miniseries, which concluded last month.

The forthcoming series will pair writer David Walker with illustrator Nelson Blake II. Walker, well-known among Marvel fans for his critically acclaimed and recently canceled Nighthawk run, promises a more cerebral Luke Cage. In an interview with CBR, Walker said that he will attempt to emphasize the noir detective element of Cage, explaining, “Luke still has that Hero for Hire sensibility, but I think the notion of what a hero is is so much more complex in this day and age. Luke is essentially a private detective.”

Walker went on to promise to make the series appealing to both Netflix viewers and first-time readers, saying:

You certainly don’t want the fans who have just discovered this character to go into a comic book shop, pick up the comic, and go, “This is nothing like the show!” You don’t want to be exactly like the show or movie, though, because there’s a reason why there’s a movie or TV show, and there’s a reason why there’s a comic. I firmly believe that neither should be exactly the same otherwise it gets really boring.

Marvel enthusiasts, perhaps, will be most excited that the new installment will feature Marvel’s first depiction of New Orleans. Walker mentioned in his interview that he is interested in exploring the city’s post-Katrina space as a backdrop to Luke Cage’s adventure.

The new Luke Cage series is due out in May. Check out the Rahzzah-illustrated first cover below, read the full interview with Walker here, and check out our coverage of the Netflix series here.

Cage Cover.jpg

 
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